NeTraMark: A Network Traffic Classification benchMark

Hyun-chul Kim

Abstract:

Recent research on Internet traffic classification has produced a number of approaches for distinguishing types of
traffic. However, a rigorous comparison of such proposed
algorithms still remains a challenge, since every proposal
considers a different benchmark for its experimental evaluation. A lack of clear consensus on an objective and scientific
way for comparing results has made researchers uncertain
of fundamental as well as relative contributions and limitations of each proposal. In response to the growing necessity for an objective method of comparing traffic classifiers and to shed light on scientifically grounded traffic
classification research, we introduce an Internet traffic classification benchmark tool, NeTraMark. Based on six design guidelines (Comparability, Reproducibility, Efficiency,
Extensibility, Synergy, and Flexibility/Ease-of-use), NeTraMark is the first Internet traffic classification benchmark
where eleven different state-of-the-art traffic classifiers are
integrated. NeTraMark allows researchers and practitioners to easily extend it with new classification algorithms
and compare them with other built-in classifiers, in terms
of three categories of performance metrics: per-whole-trace
flow accuracy, per-application flow accuracy, and computational performance.